OLD WORLD (C)HARM : GLOBALISATION, CONSERVATION AND CONTESTATION IN JOO CHIAT ROAD

Abstract

Joo Chiat Road is a 1.3-kilometer long stretch of road in the Eastern side of Singapore, which is bounded by Changi Road at its north, and East Coast Road at its south. Despite being only 1.3 kilometers long, Joo Chiat Road hosts the homes of several ethnic groups. In recent years, Joo Chiat has received much attention in the press. The whole controversy around the Joo Chiat neighborhood can be attributed mostly to the vice and sexually related activities linked to the influx of Vietnamese sex workers along a certain stretch in Joo Chiat Road. Not withstanding the morality argument, the Vietnamese sex workers have caused some changes in the neighborhood. This dissertation seeks to explore three subject matters that pertain to the Joo Chiat neighborhood. First, the issue of globalisation and its ramifications on government policies that has concomitant effects on the Joo Chiat neighborhood, followed by the conservation process carried out by the Urban Redevelopment Authority and its outcome in Joo Chiat and lastly, the problem of the Vietnamese sex workers discussed through the notion of contestations and negotiations with the residents in Joo Chiat. Although these three topics could well be independent studies, it is pertinent to note that they are undeniably interconnected. Each is a resultant of the other’s implementation or operation, and their existence cannot be conceded without the existence of the other. This dissertation also seeks to disclose the possibility that the processes of globalisation and conservation in Singapore have unintentionally allowed for and is the cause of the admittance and hence, growth of the Vietnamese sex problem in Joo Chiat. I will also look at the effects on the social and cultural landscape, as well as economic development in the neighborhood. The dissertation will conclude with a summary of the issues henceforth discussed, together with a review of the limitations that were faced in conducting the research.